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definitions

germ cell

noun Biology.
  1. the sexual reproductive cell at any stage from the primordial cell to the mature gamete.

Origin of germ cell

First recorded in 1850–55
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for germ cell

Historical Examples of germ cell

  • The line of descent or inheritance, therefore, is from germ-cell to germ-cell, and not from parents.

    Embryology

    Gerald R. Leighton

  • Germinal (sprig), due to something present in the germ-cell.

    Applied Eugenics

    Paul Popenoe and Roswell Hill Johnson

  • The problems of the germ-cell, and its heredity, therefore, are very similar in both cases.

    Embryology

    Gerald R. Leighton

  • For the brain of a child is not descended from the brain of his parent, but from a germ-cell carried by that parent.

    Being Well-Born

    Michael F. Guyer

  • What the exact relation of color production is to the parts of the germ-cell we do not know.

    Being Well-Born

    Michael F. Guyer

British Dictionary definitions for germ cell

germ cell

noun
  1. a sexual reproductive cell; gameteCompare somatic cell
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
germ cell in Medicine

germ cell

n.
  1. An ovum or a sperm cell or one of their developmental precursors.sex cell
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
germ cell in Science

germ cell

  1. One of the diploid cells in the reproductive organs of a multicellular organism that undergo division and are the precursors of haploid gametes, such as a spermatogonium or oogonium.
  2. See gamete.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.